King Crimson
Starless and Bible Black - Island Records 1974
Tracks: 1. The Great Deceiver / 2. Lament / 3. We'll Let You Know / 4. The Night Watch / 5. Trio / 6. The Mincer / 7. Starless and Bible Black / 8. Fracture
Comments:
It is often a challenge to get really acquainted with and appreciate the music of King Crimson. The group has virtually throughout his career played with quirky harmonies, and even if melodic poetic passages are found on all the group's albums, these are often replaced unusual solos, at times bordering on the dissonant. In that light, "Starless and Bible Black" can be described a classic King Crimson album; though, perhaps one of the most demanding; only "The Night Watch" and to a lesser degree "The Great Deceiver" play on traditional rock roots. Much of the album was recorded live though the sound of the audience is not immediately to be heard.
My favorite King Crimson album is without competition "In The Court of the Crimson King", which unfortunately is a little atypical in the group's catalog. I must admit and that if "Starless and Bible Black" had been my first meeting with King Crimson it would hardly have come to much more than this. However, I have learned to appriciate both "The Night Watch" and "The Great Deceiver". The more improvisational side of the group will probably never really hit me.
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